She will be loved
by shoppingruperthappiness
Summary: A james and Lily Story. After problems with her STUPID and ANNOYING boyfriend, Lily tells everything to remus, but what happens when James overhears?
1. Introductions

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognise. It either belongs to J.K Rowling **

**A/N: ok, I've I had a few complaints about how hard this chapter is 2 read, so I have no edited it and put in more space….hope u can read it **

Lily stepped out of the car, joining her parents as they walked swiftly towards Kings Cross station. Her father was carrying her trunk, her mother was struggling with Lily's new owl and Lily herself was having enough trouble walking without any luggage at all. Her stomach didn't feel so much like it was inhabited by dainty butterflies, but more like a herd of elephants learning ballet.

As they reached platform 9, Lily searched for platform 9 and ¾, but only encountered platform 10 and some other people walking towards a solid brick wall.

Lily turned back to her parents, ready to state her problem, but then did a double-take and whipped her head around to see several people disappear nonchalantly through the wall. Another group approached, struggling with numerous heavy trunks and several animals. They too strode towards the barrier and disappeared just as easily as the first group.

Lily, being quite gifted in the brain department, put two and two together and said to her parents, indicating the wall,

'Mum, Dad, I think I have to walk through that barrier to get to the platform.'

They nodded and the family began to walk towards the wall. Her father, seeing that it would be very difficult to get through the barrier carrying a heavy trunk, brought over a trolley and first the trunk and then the owl were placed on to it.

Lily, with tears now beginning to form, grabbed them both in a tight hug and said,

'I think I'll just say goodbye here. If you walk through with me, I'm afraid I'll not be able to get on the train at all.'

They nodded again, and hugged their daughter harder. They slowly let her go and her father said,

'Well, good luck sweetie. Write to us as often as you can, and always remember, we love you and are so proud of you. Use this opportunity to be the best person that you can be, and no matter what, always be proud of who you are and remember to be yourself. People won't be able to help liking you,' he finished,

His mouth smiling a little. She nodded at him. She kissed him goodbye and turned to her mother. Lily could see that she was too overcome by emotion and simply said,

'I love you mum.'

Her mother forced a smile and said quietly, the emotion obvious in her voice,

'I love you too. Have fun and do us proud.'

With that, Lily drew them into a quick embrace, took a firm hold of her trolley and started to walk quickly towards the barrier. She turned around, waved as cheerfully as possible to them and then a second later, she was on the other side, in a completely different world.

After overcoming the initial shock of making it through the barrier, Lily looked up to find an enormous train, billowing smoke, surrounded by children of various ages, talking to families, or rushing over to greet their friends. Lily felt bewildered. She didn't know anyone.

She looked up at the clock and saw that she still had 20 minutes until the train left. What was she supposed to do until then? She had no idea. Overcome finally by the nerves and sadness that had been building up inside her since the night before, she sat down on her trunk and put her head in her hands and let the tears drip between her fingers.

She had been sitting this way for a minute or two, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Lily jumped and looked up to find a pretty girl with glossy, shoulder-length blonde hair and mysterious grey eyes looking at her. The girl, seeing that Lily had acknowledged her existence, said in a businesslike tone, quite unexpected from her appearance,

'Hi, I'm Giselle, but everyone calls me Gem. Who are you?'

Lily, somewhat startled by this girl, said,

'I'm, I'm Lily, Lily Evans.'

Gem then said, her tone now much more bright and cheerful,

'Well, hi Lily. What on earth are you doing down there sitting on your trunk?'

And then, she noticed Lily's red eyes.

'Oh, I see, you've been crying. What on earth have you been crying for. How can you be sad about coming to Hogwarts?'

Before Lily had a chance to reply, Gem cut in and said,

'I tell you what. How 'bout you come in a carriage with me and this girl I found before? Then we can all be friends. You are in first year aren't you?'

Lily nodded and Gem sighed with relief.

'Well good. Now hurry up, the train leaves in ten minutes.'

She grabbed Lily by her hands, pulled her to her feet and grabbed Lily's trunk. She then addressed Lily and said,

'Well come on, be useful, get your owl and get moving.'

Lily quietly obeyed and picked up the owl cage and followed Gem onto the train.

After making their way past various compartments, Gem stopped in front of one, pulled open the door and walked inside. Lily quickly followed suit and found herself with confronted by another new person.

'Lily,' said Gem, 'this is Ella. Ella this is Lily.'

Ella had blonde hair, like Gem, but it was very short, sitting in cute bob just below her ears. Her eyes, however, were very different to Gem's. They were a deep, chocolaty brown. Just as Lily was thinking how pretty Ella was, Gem said,

'Now that everyone is acquainted, I say we share some bits and pieces with each other. Lily, you go first, and you can tell us why you were crying out there before.'

Lily took a deep breath and said,

'Well, I was just so scared. I mean, I don't know anyone here, I don't even know anything about wizards. And then I was thinking about how much my parents want me to do well and come top in all my classes. And then I was thinking about how I'm not gonna make any friends because everyone will think I'm really ugly. And then I was just thinking about how much I'm gonna miss my family, even my sister Petunia who hates me because I'm a witch. And then you turned up Gem.'

Gem looked taken aback for a second and then said cheerfully,

'Well, I say that you were crying for no good reason. Firstly, it doesn't matter that you don't know anyone here, most people don't when they get here. And, it doesn't matter that you don't know anything about wizards, don't worry, me and Ella will fill you in. Secondly, I'm sure you're parents will be proud of you, no matter what you do. And by the looks of you, I'd say you're pretty intelligent anyway.'

She took a huge breath.

'Thirdly, and this is the one I have the biggest problem with. Thirdly, you needn't worry about finding friends. You have us already and you've barely been here 10 minutes. And, there is no way in the world that you're ugly. What more could you want. You're tall, but no too tall, you're slim, but not horribly thin, you have beautiful, thick, hair and you're eyes. Well you're eyes are just breathtaking. And do you know how I know all this?'

She asked. Lily shook her head.

'Well, it's because I overheard a very cute boy, who looked about our age, talking to another very cute boy our age, and he saw you and that's exactly what he said.'

Lily was cheered up by this. She could see now that all her worries were pretty much unfounded and that she was going to have a great time at this school. And with that, the train started, jolting Gem, who had been standing, onto the floor, causing the three girls to collapse into giggles.

Ok, that's it. Please review. Please, please please. If you do, I'll keep writing, I promise.

Caitlin


	2. first day back

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognise. It belongs to J.K Rowling.**

**A/N: I Know a Mark (Evans) appears in book 5, but whenever I tried to write Lily's boyfriend's name, Mark just wanted to be put in. It means nothing, and Mark Evans is in no way related to this character.**

**The beginning of 4th year…**

**O and thank you to my only reviewer, I love getting reviews and any feedback I get is really appreciated. I don't mind if you hate it, I'd just really like to know that you have actually read it!**

'Ha! Lily, look at those little kids. We were never that small',

Said Gem, as the year's batch of first years trailed into the hall behind Professor McGonagall. Lily looked over at Gem with a suppressed grin on her face. She was about to say something but McGonagall began to talk and Lily quickly shut her mouth.

After a few minutes, and the usual song, the Sorting began. And, after a few minutes, it was over. The usual number of students had joined the Gryffindor table where Lily and her friends now belonged. Soon enough, mountains of food had appeared on the table and Lily reached for her favourite food, steak and kidney pie. Unfortunately for her, someone else had had the same idea and just as she was reaching for the serving spoon, another hand had beaten her to it. Too late for Lily, however, as her hand landed on the other.

'Wow Evans, looks like you've changed your mind about me over the summer then have you?'

Lily looked up to see whom the voice belonged to, although she already knew. It was Potter, James Potter to be more precise. She quickly tried to pull her hand away, but he had now gained a strong hold on it. She looked to the left, finding the face of her current boyfriend, Mark. He looked over at James, anger obvious in his voice.

'Potter, keep your hands off my girl!'

James sniggered and glared at him, let go of Lily's hand, then served himself some food. When he was done, Lily got herself some and turned to talk to Mark. They talked about a manner of boring things, like how their summers' were. Mark soon turned the conversation to schoolwork, a subject that Lily had always hated.

Mark was so focused on marks, maybe that's why he had asked Lily out in the first place. It had been just after they had found out how they had done in their exams last year, and after seeing that Lily, as usual, had come top of every class but Transfiguration, he had come over to her. And before you could say, 'I hate James Potter,' it was done.

Lily didn't really know what she had done until the holidays and she had told her parents. They were, of course, quite pleased, as Mark was very studious and was, in their opinion therefore a very good choice. Lily soon convinced herself that he was wonderful, and had returned to school telling her how lucky she was to have him.

Mark was still talking about how important their marks would be this year because O.W.L.s were next year. Lily just wished he would shut up. This was getting old. Fast. Instead, she decided to look up and down the table, seeing how much people had changed over the summer. She could see that numerous people had had haircuts. Lots of people were rather brown from the sun and many had grown an alarming amount.

Her eyes fell on the Marauders, first looking at Peter, with a shiver. He was still as hideous as ever. Next was Sirius. Lily wasn't exactly blind. She could see Sirius was very attractive. But she wasn't really interested in him. She had been last year, and they had dated for a little while. But it didn't really work and now they were happy just being friends, or dutifully ignoring each other, depending on who was around at the time.

Besides, Lily suspected James' jealousy had a lot to do with Sirius calling it quits. After Sirius came Remus. He wasn't nearly as good-looking as Sirius, but he was a lot better than Peter. Besides, Remus was really nice, not that Lily would ever admit it out loud. The less her and her friends had to do with the Marauders, or rather, James, the better. The Marauders liked pulling pranks on Lily and her friends, mainly because James wanted Lily's attention.

Lily suspected that her friends would have really liked to not hate the Marauders with a passion, but James' obsession with Lily meant Lily had to pretend to hate them, or at least James, though she wouldn't't have really minded being friends with them had it not been for James. And of course, whatever Lily wanted, her friend's were happy to do.

That's just the way things were for them. And they all knew what her real problem was. James Potter. He was forever pestering her, annoying her, and worst of all, his bigheaded behaviour did nothing to improve her attitude towards him. He did whatever he felt like, just because he thought he could. Lily just couldn't stand it.

Today, when she looked at him, she felt the same surge of anger and annoyance towards him, yet something was different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but feeling it could be nothing good, she tried to avoid the thought, and instead turned back towards Mark.

She tried to pay attention to what he was saying, but really, in all honesty, he sounded a lot like her parents. Ever since they had realised how bright she was, the pressure was always there. She felt thoroughly disappointed whenever she didn't get top marks, because her parents were thoroughly disappointed in her.

After all, all they had left was Petunia, and whilst she would make a perfect housewife for someone, she was quite lacking in any academic-related intelligence. But now there was Mark. He put more pressure on. Sometimes it even felt like a competition between them. Who could answer the most questions in class? Who could do their homework fastest?

It never stopped. And now that Mark was spending more and more time with her, she felt that even her friends were drifting away from her. However, she knew her parents really liked Mark, and what he was doing for Lily. And if her parents liked it, Lily was happy to oblige them. Most of the time anyway.

Lily had now stopped eating, along with the rest of the school, and Dumbledore stood up to deliver a few notices. After that, the sounds of hundreds of feet could be heard. Lily's friends had raced off without her, making her seemingly bad night worse.

However, Mark was there, and feeling obliged to carry out girlfriend duties, she walked with him. They walked in silence for a minute or so, until they reached the marble staircase. Deciding to break the silence, Lily said, trying to be bright and cheerful,

'So, did you see anyone from school in the holidays?'

'No,' Mark replied. 'I was too busy reading all our textbooks as well as doing some extra reading.'

Lily felt her mouth drop open in amazement. And horror. Was he serious? Surely, you couldn't spend _all_ summer reading? She asked something different.

'Did you go anywhere? Overseas?'

She asked. He shook his head. They fell back into silence. After a minute or two, they had reached the portrait hole. Lily, realising she didn't know the password, asked Mark, who didn't know either. Then, luckily (or was it unluckily?) the Marauders turned up. Remus knew the password, and within five minutes, Lily had headed up to bed, after biding Mark goodnight. She tried to sleep, but she was too preoccupied with Mark. She couldn't decide what she should do.

Keep her parents happy or follow her instinct and break it off with Mark. She couldn't handle all the pressure. She was losing her friends and her sanity. Lily couldn't ask her friends, as half the problem concerned them. She couldn't ask her parents, because she knew what they would say.

She had no idea what to do. In tears, she headed down to the common room, not wanting to disturb anyone. She was overcome with a sudden bout of first-night homesickness and doubt. But there was someone else in the common room. The last person on earth she really wanted to talk to, or even see. She was at her most vulnerable, and he would be ready to make fun of her. It was Potter.

**Ok. I know it seems pretty cheesy, but its one of those spur of the moment things you do when your at home on a Friday night, babysitting you little sister. Please review it anyway, and feedback is much appreciated.**


	3. The day I come to you for help i...

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognise. It belongs to J.K Rowling.**

**A/N: Ok, so I haven't updated in like, forever. Sorry, for anyone who actually reads this. Anyways, I'm updating now, coz its holidays and I thought I would.**

Before she could escape somewhere else, James looked up to see a thoroughly distressed Lily at the bottom of the staircase. For a second, he looked like he was about to laugh, but he quickly changed his mind. He opened his mouth and Lily braced herself for some snide remark. But it never came.

Instead, much to her surprise, all he said was,

'What's the matter Evans? Anything I can help you with?'

No sniggering, no quick, sideways glances at Sirius, nothing rude whatsoever. Lily did that herself.

'Get a life Potter. The day I come to you for help is the day you know I've lost my mind.'

And with that, she marched straight towards the portrait hole, leaving a somewhat bemused James in her wake.

Once outside the portrait hole, Lily sank onto the ground, feeling even more miserable than before. That made her quite confused, because, in more normal circumstances, yelling at James Potter should have made her feel much better. However, today was in no way a normal day, so no normal, first-day things were to be expected. In fact, after her little outburst, she felt rather mean.

So now, sitting outside the Gryffindor portrait hole, sat a miserable, homesick, confused, conscience-stricken Lily, who really just wanted the comfort of her home and her family. Poor Lily was overcome with tiredness and homesickness and in her despondent and befuddled state, fell asleep outside the portrait hole.

Early the next morning, she was awoken by the sudden commotion that ensued upon her discovery. Remus Lupin was the first out of bed that morning and was therefore, the first to find Lily.

'God, Lily, what the hell are you doing out here?' He cried.

'Uhhh, I _was _sleeping.' She replied, a little coldly.

'Well, I figured that much, but why here?' was his reply.

Lily didn't reply, and after a minute or so, Remus said, with trusting eyes,

'C'mon, Lily, you can tell me.'

She looked up into his face, knowing he'd never tell. Sighing, she launched into the tale of last night's events. Of her confusion, her sadness, everything. She began to laugh, but she soon broke into tears again and Remus slid down the wall, seating himself next to her. He had no idea what to say, but Lily didn't need him to say anything.

After five minutes in this way, Remus got to his feet and offered his hand to Lily.

'Ok, up you get. Go and get dressed and then meet me outside the Great Hall.'

Lily grabbed his hand, and after being pulled to her feet, she nodded and headed back to her dormitory.

Back in there, she found Gem, Ella and their two roommates, Sienna and Jo all still fast asleep. She breathed a sigh of relief as collected her robes from her trunk and headed into the bathroom.

20 minutes later, dressed, make-up on, bag on shoulder, Lily headed back downstairs and then to the Great Hall, where Remus was waiting outside for her. When she had left the dormitory again, all her roommates were still asleep. She was relieved that she hadn't had to face them yet, but she knew she must, she needed to explain how she was feeling.

Remus greeted her with a warm smile and some toast. He handed her two slices of toast and motioned to the doors at the front of the school. Lily nodded her agreement and they walked out to the grounds, munching on their toast.

They seated themselves on the lawn, looking out over the rest of the magnificent grounds. Lily sighed heavily and Remus asked,

'Why don't you tell me everything Lily, don't bottle it all up, maybe I can help.'

Lily looked at him. She gave him a wan smile and then she broke down. She told him everything. About Mark, the pressure from her parents, her fear she was losing her friends. Absolutely everything. Then she told him about her run-in with James last night. She even told him of her change in feelings, how she felt mean she yelled at him. Then she said, almost in a whisper,

'I think I might even like him Remus. Just as a friend, but I think I actually don't hate him anymore.'

The look on Remus' face was one of fright. Lily, thinking she had said the wrong thing burst into tears. And then she heard,

'Lily Evans, the one-and-only, has admitted she might actually like me! What is the world coming to?'

She looked up find none other than Mr. Potter staring at her with a smile on his face.

A/N: ok., ok, so what did you think? Plz R&R, and I will luv u 4eva. I will even review ur stories, I promise (unless I get like a gazillion reviewers….but I doubt that will happen)


	4. Back in the day

**A/N: OMG, u guys are all so amazing. I have 21 reviews! I was hoping 4 like, 5 or something. Thank-you all soooooooooooooooo much, reviews just make my day. **

**I think I have reviewed all of u who had stories, let me know if I haven't. I'm so sorry I haven't updated 4 a while. Over here in Australia, I am in the middle of summer holidays, and I know you all know how busy they get, sleeping, shopping, all sorts of strenuous activities! **

**Anyhoo….to be honest, I have absolutely no idea where this story is going, I'm just writing down whatever comes to my head, which can be rather disastrous when I got back and read my other chapters, some things sound so stupid! But oh well. Any ideas are welcome. Oh, and if I'm making heaps of typos, please let me know!**

**Hope you all had a merry xmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate.**

**BTW, I am now 15! (as of Saturday) so happy b'day 2 me!**

Lily stopped crying to let out an ear-piercing scream which caused several nearby owls to fly furiously from their perches in the trees above, and Remus and James to cover their ears in protest. She then drew and enormous breath and proceeded to yell at her very loudest,

'How dare you, you evil, slimy, foul little…shit head!

Both Remus and James were stunned at Lily's use of language, and were unsure at this point to whom she was talking, but it was soon clarified for them.

'I trusted you….I thought you were the one person I could talk to, but I get it now, I was just part of another one of your pranks! I thought you were the sensible one Remus….I thought you alone could distinguish between a bit of a laugh and a serious situation! But obviously I was wrong! I hate you both, and if you ever so much as breath near me, you will regret it!'

With that, Lily arose, turned on her heel, took one last look at their stunned faces, stuck out her tongue, pulled out her wand, recited a useful incantation she learned from Gem and covered them with a stink sap-like substance.

Lily reached the Entrance Hall and let out a huge sigh. She couldn't quite breathe properly, and it took her a few minutes to get her adrenalin rush under control. Lily told herself she was calm, fixed a smile upon her face and looking at her watch, saw she only had 15 minutes until classes started.

Groaning inwardly at the thought of double transfiguration, on her empty stomach( she hadn't eaten the toast Remus had brought out with them) she rushed up to her dormitory to grab some of her secret chocolate stash.

Upon her arrival in the dormitory, she found Ella still asleep. Lily laughed to herself and grabbed the glass of water on Ella's bedside table. With a grin on her face, she proceeded to tip the water all over Ella's face and neck. Ella sat up coughing and spluttering.

When she saw Lily standing there laughing at her, she got a impish look in her eyes, foretelling that some unfortunate event was about to take place involving Lily. Lily saw this look and bolted for the door, calling out over her shoulder,

'No time to chase me now, McGonagall's expecting us in 10 minutes!'

Ella let slip a very rude word and screamed out in despair. The corner's of Lily's mouth twitched slightly, a sight very familiar to those who knew her, she was forever holding back her enjoyment in something, but when she did laugh, it was like the beautiful tinkling laugh of a bell in the wind, or as delicate as the wings of a butterfly. Just ask James Potter, those were his words on occasions past.

James and Remus were sitting in stunned silence on the grass where Lily has left them. Remus cleared his throat unnecessarily and sighed loudly. James voiced his thoughts,

'Remus, mate, I'm so sorry. I'm used of her hating me, but you don't deserve the same. I….I heard you talking to her this morning. I was listening from the other side of the Portrait Hole.'

Remus looked up at James, his eyes betraying the annoyance he felt. James, however, misinterpreted this look and laughed. Remus clenched his jaw and exhaled loudly through his nose. He glared at James, got up and stalked away, muttering incomprehensibly under his breath.

'Fuck,' said James. 'This is NOT good!' he finished angrily.

He lay down on the grass and stared up at the tree nearby. Quite a few of the leaves had already to turn different shades of auburn, gold and chocolate. After he'd had enough of looking at the leaves, he let his thoughts drift away, to another place. He thought back to the beginning of the era that he thought had stopped today, although now he wasn't so sure. It was the day Lily had first told him she hated him…

It had been just after the Christmas holidays in their first year. In order to get Lily's attention, James and his friends pulled endless pranks on Lily. She generally tolerated them, usually just ignoring the humiliation and annoyance she felt. However, one day he brought about his own downfall. James thought back to the day now.

_James was all alone in the Common Room, four days after Christmas. He was staring out at the grounds, covered in a heavy snowfall from the day previously. He heard the faint sound of the Portrait Hole opening. He resisted the urge to turn around, it was probably some sixth-year that had left a book in their room. It was only when he heard the clunking and the exasperated noises accompanying the person that he turned slowly around._

_It was Lily Evans, a tiny, delicate child. She had changed much in the years since then, but on that day, she was in no way capable of carting her trunk up the staircase to her room. James went over to help, although he thought it strange that she was back so early from holidays. However, he didn't enquire at that point. Although he couldn't actually help her up the stairs with the trunk (that tricky slide…), he did know a very helpful spell that he performed. _

'_Locomotor trunk,' he said, directing the trunk to the landing in front of Lily's room._

'_Thanks,' she said quietly, scurrying up the staircase, away from the cute, but scary boy._

_James turned back around to face the window, but as he heard the door handle turn, he suddenly summoned up the courage to do something he'd been wanting to do for a few weeks now._

'_Lily, hey, hey Lily,' he called out to her._

'_Yes,' she replied timidly, whirling around to face him, her hand on the door-handle._

'_Lily, w…would you like to go out with me, for a walk around the lake or s…something…one day?' he managed to get out eventually._

_For a few seconds, there was a look of fright in her eyes and then, somewhere far, far away, a bell rang, bringing James back to the world of today._

**A/N: there you go peoples, I did eventually manage to get an idea for this chapter, so I'm really sorry that it took so long. I apologise in advance if you thought this was a bad chapter, I have no idea where this is going, or how long it's gonna be, so every chapter is as much a surprise to me as it is to you. If you have any suggestions for future chapters, let me know and I'll see how I go.**

**Much appreciated**

**Caitlin**

**p.s: see that little button, just down there, on the left? Yeah, that one. Well, all you have to do is click on that, and spend 1 minute of your life letting me know what you thought. It really is that easy, and they really do make my day.**


	5. Propositions

**A/N: wow! I love u guys! AND…I absolutely love your reviews! Hopefully, eventually, I will get around to reviewing the stories of all you who sign your reviews and have authored stories. Hopefully, it will be done relatively soon, but I can't guarantee anything. After all, I can't update this if I'm reading your stories all the time ( I now have 2 pages of responses, and it's taken me like 3 or 4 days to do it!). Oh, and to all of you who don't have stories for me to read, I really do appreciate the time you take to review my little fic, so here are responses to all of you (those who give longer reviews, or guess things get longer responses)**

**Kaia: Hopefully my new layout is easier for you to read! I will do anything so people can actually read my story, so thanks for your suggestion!**

**Demothenes and Locke: Hopefully I have now solved your problem with the layout of my chapters, so don't worry, you don't have issues! I'm so sorry that my updating forms part of your preservation of sanity! I wouldn't recommend it, I am NOT a frequent updater, though I do try!**

**Monkeys rok my sox: Yes, he was being a butthead, but this is still in the stage where he has an overlarge ego, so maybe we will see if eventually he stops being a butthead…but who knows?**

**Lizzie Black: Glad you like my changed layout. And don't worry, I don't plan on making them fall in love straight away, Lily has some issues to overcome, and James isn't exactly perfect either, so their relationship may be fraught with some hurdles. Plus, remember, Lily still has a boyfriend and overbearing, albeit well-meaning, parents to deal with first. So you need not worry, it will not be tooooo cheesy, or not so cheesy as it could be. I will try to keep clichés to a minimum. **

I am very sorry to inform you though, about the length of my chapters. They are not THAT short, however, I do know it is annoying to only have shorter chapters when some lazy person like me doesn't update that frequently. There isn't really a lot I can do about it, as my ideas only come to me in shorter bursts, and it takes me a while to mull over ideas in my head before I even write them. And I don't mind criticism, especially creative criticism like yours, as it helps me to understand what readers think, and how I can grow as a writer. So thank-you.

**Demeters Child: Thanks. I find it easier to write about them to. You get a bit more freedom without people attacking you for not keeping them "in character." Hopefully, you've read my next chapter and that it answers your question a bit.**

**Snowyangelmidnight: I'm trying to follow your suggestion a bit, and I am explaining why Lily hates James in my next few chapter.**

**xlilypotterx: I love marauder stories too ( as well as maroon 5). Christmas and summer is weird for me too! Its seems too hot, when you always see pictures of snow and winter. Thanks for your review.**

**mizlovegood: Thanks, and hopefully you will hear more, when I'm done responding to all my wonderful reviewers! And I will hopefully get around to reviewing one of your stories…soon!**

**Lirimaer Elearie I know, I know, punctuation has NEVER been my strong point….but I hope it is tolerable enough for you to keep reading…and I'm really flattered by your review to chapter 2...thanks a lot!**

**Auror: Well, I'm glad at least that you are still interested. If you really like the story, its shouldn't really matter how long it takes. I'm not extremely busy, but it does take a while for me to actually decide what to say in each chapter**

My thanks must also go to all these people, because without all of you, I wouldn't be nearly so motivated to keep going: **Stephanie, Senshiofmars, skybluepink **(I'd write you a long review, but all the stuff I'd say is in my review to your story!), **Sally da pumpkin queen, sjpgurl13, Ashley, hypa4evr, Tears-That-Fall, beyonce-85, moony391 **(oh, and I've changed my layout, so maybe you can read it now?), **Clurey, Marauder-Magick33, newsieduckling, potato maker, navy-blue6, missmcweir **(I just thought I'd try a bit of a cliffie, but I think I'm too slack to update fast enough to do it very often), **inuyoukai-01, haley **(yes, I am, eventually)**, wacky one, tomismyboy4life, Hermione-Potter-52036, lilypad007, sallymander, Lillith Potter, Stacey, fuzzy, apotterlover **(you may or may not be right…not necessarily his ego, but more his own insecurities, that no-one thinks he could have) and **lillypEoVtAtNeSr**

Ok, so now that's all done, this is the next chapter of _She Will Be Loved._

Lily heard the bell, and yelled up the stairs for Ella to hurry up. Down came Ella, her shoes untied and a hairbrush in hand. Lily let out a gentle laugh and shook her head at her disorganised friend.

'When will you learn the advantages of an alarm clock? _Especially _when we have McGonagall first period!' said Lily, pretending to sound exasperated, but failing dismally.

'When did you get your timetable?' asked Ella, giving her friend a gentle shove as they raced around a corner, just in time to join the rest of their class as they entered their transfiguration classroom.

'It's called paying attention sweetie,' said Lily somewhat patronisingly as they took their seats. 'Last night, at the feast, Dumbledore did mention that we could pick them up from Prefects either last night or this morning. They were trying a different system this year I think.' she finished.

Ella gave Lily a gentle nudge in the ribs. Lily looked up to find McGonagall giving her a pointed look. Lily went quiet immediately and turned a delicate shade of pink. At that point, several people, including a certain Marauder, and Gem, rushed into the room, looing relieved at the sight of the people in it. Clearly, they, like Ella, hadn't been listening to Dumbledore and had not collected a timetable, and therefore had to guess their class.

The members of the class who had turned up on time laughed, and McGonagall swept her trademark silencing gaze around the room. She then said,

'Clearly, Professor Dumbledore's new system was not effective. I shall let him know.'

The class dared not laugh again, as the late students sat down. Gem came over and sat near Ella and Lily. Gem shot a look at Lily and mouthed,

'Where were you last night?'

Lily mouthed back, 'Tell you later,' and turned around just in time to see James approach the other Marauders, in their usual seats up the back, but Remus put his bag on the empty chair and gave James a scathing look. James got the message and was forced to sit close to the front on his own.

Lily hid her surprise at this, and focused on what McGonagall was telling them about her expectations for Gryffindoor this year, and how she hoped that in this, the year before their O.W.Ls, they would focus harder on academic application, because this was a very crucial year in their studies.

Lily knew all this, she'd already heard it from her parents _and _Mark. Argh! She really didn't want to think about Mark, but she just had, and now he was staring at her from across the room, and she did NOT like that stare. It was beginning to scare her.

She wasn't the only one who had seen it though. James looked up, hoping to find a friendly face somewhere. Whilst he was searching, he saw Mark looking at Lily, and he did NOT like that look either. James could hear McGonagall droning away in the background still.

James already knew about this subject, transfiguration was his best subject. After all, his grandfather had once been the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts many years ago, and was very keen to pass his skills onto James. James saw the look in Lily's eyes when she saw the look Mark was giving her.

The look of sudden fright, and then slowly it turned into a smile, after getting over the initial shock. James knew that look exactly, because it was the one she had given him on that day back in first year, the one he had been thinking about only half an hour ago.

_The look in Lily's eyes suddenly changed and a smile lit up her face. She nodded slowly, and, turning that delicate shade of pink that so often tinted her cheeks, she saw the satisfaction on his face as he suddenly regained his usual charming, if not slightly cocky, demeanour and she rushed into her room._

_James was thrilled, very happy to say the least. At last, he had got the courage that had so often failed him in regards to Lily. It never happened at any other time, but with Lily it was different. But now, letting her see him at his most vulnerable, at her mercy, seemed like a huge mistake. She would think she had power over him, his irrational mind informed him._

_Oh no! He'd have to show her who was boss, and he'd have to show her soon. His mind immediately began to think of a plan. Of course, he'd have to consult with the other Marauders, but he was already thinking maybe some really bad public humiliation. Yes, that was it. Now, where was Sirius when you needed him most?_

The thoughts about Sirius brought James back to earth with a very painful jolt. Having to deal with not only losing something he had just gained, especially the respect of Lily Evans, was made three times worse with having to deal with the rejection of his friends, all his friends. Remus was bad enough, but Peter and especially Sirius made it even harder, if that was possible.

Remus must have gone to the others before class and told them his story. Well, James would just have to do the same. But maybe he'd give them a day or so to cool down a bit. Lily, well Lily, he had no idea what to do about her. But she had a very good idea of what to do to him.

Yes:Lily was very pleased with herself for having come up with this idea all by herself. She was mulling over the final details as the bell rang. On her way out the door, she waited for Mark to catch up with her. She had seen the anger and annoyance James had shown when he saw Mark looking at her.

Determined to get back at him, she now took Mark by the wrist and firmly pulled him away from the group, but still in clear view of the members of the class filing out of the room. Then she leant over and whispered something in his ear. His reaction to that was caught by James, and Lily looked over to him with a mischievous grin on he face. It wasn't too hard for James to guess what Lily had suggested and anger flared in his eyes. Lily planted a kiss on Mark and ran over to join here friends, who were waiting for her outside the nearest bathroom. They dragged her inside, checked no-one else was in there and Gem said,

'And you were where exactly last night and this morning? Are you cheating on Mark?' she demanded eagerly.

Lily shook her head ad sighed deeply. She launched into the explanation of the emotional events of last night and that morning. Her friends listened, making all the right noises at all the right times, and when she had had finished, they immediately considered the appropriate punishment. Lily told them of her idea, and they agreed.

The bell rang at that point, and the girls rushed off to class. Lily felt a lot better than she had earlier that morning. There was someone who was really not happy. His name was Remus Lupin, and he was thoroughly pissed off. James' behaviour this morning had been totally uncalled-for and now Lily hated him too. This was not good, not good at all.

However, Remus wasn't one for thinking irrationally, and he quickly formulated an idea to remedy the situation. Right now though, he needed to concentrate on Defence Against the Dark Arts. His plan would come into action as soon as the bell went. Lily would have to listen. He would make her.

The bell did eventually ring, and he managed to seek Lily out. Although she was reluctant to go with him, she relented, and let him lead her down to an unused classroom. James saw them, but this time he decided NOT to follow.

Once they got to the classroom, Remus forced Lily to sit down and listen.

'Lily, I am so, unbelievably sorry. I had no idea James was there until it as too late. After you left, he told me how he had heard us from the other side of the Portrait Hole and decided to follow us. I honestly had no idea. I was so angry, especially when he laughed, like it was some big joke. The truth is Lily, you can never know how upset and angry he made me, and how sorry I really am, because,' he said, after a rather pregnant pause,

'because, you have no idea how I much I value your respect, however secret you like to keep it. I value it far beyond ever compromising it for a joke or a prank. But there's more to it than that. I don't think now is the right time to tell you, but I just want to give you a word of advice. Whatever it is that you are planning on doing with Mark tonight, don't do it because you want to get back at James. I have a much better idea,' he finished, with what couldn't have been mistaken as a playful grin on his face.

At this point, after seeing the look in Remus' eyes and on his face as he said it, Lily had a fairly good idea of what he was talking about. Remus saw the comprehension dawn on her face and he then demurely proposed,

'Shall we go to lunch?'

Lily grinned back, a much better idea now in her head, and she stood up and walked to the door, letting Remus slip his arm around her waist, as she said,

'I really must find Mark, I'm afraid he has some bad news.'

A/N: well, there's the next chapter, hope you all like it. Even if you didn't, please REVIEW and let me know.

Much appreciated

Caitlin


	6. Change of plans

**A/N: yay! More reviews! Last time I checked, I had 46 reviews! That is so much more than I ever expected! Thank you all so much, and I hope you keep reading and enjoying my imagination…I mean, my fic. Wow…it's only taken me about a week to post my next chapter! Be proud for me. Well, actually its all Grace's fault…she kept telling me to hurry up and update….so if you hate this chapter, it's not my fault that I didn't have enough time to figure out what was actually going to happen in this chapter! And if you like/love it, I take al the credit! Well, actually no, you can blame Grace for that too…I guess.**

My thanks must go to **Thayet Conte**, **FutureGoddess**, **skybluepink**, **Monkeys rok my sox **and **77 **(heehee Grace…thanks!)

**BTW: next week I go back to school, after 8 weeks summer holidays! So I probably wont be updating as often as I'd like, especially when assessment starts all over again. OMG, year 10, its sounds so scary.**

Anyways…here is the next chapter.

James was burning with curiosity. What on _earth_ could Remus want to talk to Lily about? And why was she going with him? Wasn't she furious with him for the events of the morning? This girl sure was complicated. James had no idea what she was thinking, but perhaps Remus was trying to tell Lily not to be angry with him and James anymore. That certainly would be nice.

Oh, but wait, he could hear them now, the doorknob turning as he peeked around the corner, ready to see what miracles Remus had achieved. James came out from his hiding place, expecting to find that Lily would be ready to forgive him.

He was extremely shocked to find however, that not only had Lily forgiven Remus for James' interruption this morning, but that she was now walking down the corridor with his arm around her waist and her eyes locked with his. James almost swallowed a family of flies that happened to be passing when his jaw dropped in amazement and almost instant horror when he saw this.

It was at this moment that Lily saw James and her eyes lit up. She waved and said, 'we're so glad we ran into you dearest James! We were hoping that you would be the first to hear of our good news!'

James managed to pull himself together enough to ask, 'and what news would that be?' Though he thought he already knew the answer to that question..

'Oh, just that Remus and I have finally found the courage to confess our feelings for each other,' she finished lightly.

James gulped and after another adoring look into each other's eyes, Remus went on to inform James, 'yes, after this morning's little….disagreement, we found that it was only our love trying to escape. We could never, ever be angry at each other. I missed her too much already, didn't I my delicate flower?'

Lily nodded her agreement and rested her head on Remus' shoulder, her arms around his waist. With an innocent look, she said to James, 'and we were hoping, if it isn't too much to ask.'

'We were hoping that if you could be happy for us-we understand if you're not-but if you are, this morning's events will be forgiven and forgotten,' Remus finished.

Lily giggled. 'See,' she said sweetly, 'we're already finishing each other's sentences. How could you possibly be anything but happy for us? We're just so perfect for each other.'

James' brain jumped into action._ 'Right_,' he thought. _'I can either be completely immature and yell and scream and get angry, and lose Remus, let alone Lily, forever, or I can act like I am happy and we can all be friends. What does it matter anyway? I bet it'll last a week at most.'_

'Sure, that's great you guys. I always knew you had some sort of deep connection going on there,' he said calmly. Lily smiled and said, 'terrific, now, all is forgiven, and who knows Potter, maybe we can even be friends.'

'_Maybe Evans. Maybe you'll realise just what you're missing and you'll choose me instead,' James thought to himself. Maybe he still had a chance after all._

'Anyway, I'll leave you two pranksters to your own devices. I have some urgent business to attend to,' said Lily with a wink and a wave as she descended a staircase on her way to the Great Hall.

'So Prongs, how about it? Friends?' asked Remus sincerely, extending his hand.

'Sure Moony, just so long as you know that if you're doing this for the…_wrong_ reasons, that it wont last, and I'll be after her again. I don't mind relinquishing her for the time being, especially if it means regaining your friendship and seeing you happy. But just watch out, just because Evans is yours now, it doesn't mean that my feelings will evaporate,' said James coolly, taking Remus' hand, and they both shook whilst staring at each other.

'See, Prongs, the reason _Lily_, will never go out with you is because you view her as property to acquire and retain. Until you learn to change your ways, you'll never _get_ her, as such,' said Remus, not rudely, but just as if he was explaining a difficult concept, like long division, to a particularly slow individual.

James shrugged, pushing that true, yet annoying piece of information to the back of his mind. As a way of getting things going again, he asked curiously, 'where did Evans go by the way?'

'Oh, I imagine she was going to inform her friends, you know how girls are.'

James laughed a little, and then Remus went on to say, 'Oh, and she was also going to find Mark. I'm afraid this will not be a good day for him.'

James found this extremely amusing and added in a much more friendly tone than before, 'Thank God. At least some good has come out of this. He really did deserve to be taken down a peg or two. Congrats Moony, you have done a service to the whole of the Hogwarts community. At least he'll stop gloating now.'

They both laughed and followed the path Lily had taken to the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Lily had found Gem and Ella and had dragged them from lunch, down a corridor and then into an empty bathroom. As she relayed the events of the last 20 minutes to them, a mischievous look came upon them and when she was done, they cheered and clapped for this sudden change of plans.

'Yay for Lily. What a brilliant idea! Are you sure you and Remus can pull this off though? Wont James smell a rat?' Queried Gem.

'Yeah. And how do you know that Remus isn't just doing this to get you and James closer? He can be very sneaky you know. You better watch out Miss Evans!' pointed out Ella.

'Wouldn't it be hilarious if she actually fell for Remus? Or, even better, if she _did _ fall for James. I'd pay good money to see that!' continued a giggling Gem, who had now started Ella into hysterics as well.

Lily groaned, and attempting to push them off the bench on which they were sitting, said, 'ladies, please, let's NOT get carried away here. Why on earth would I actually fall for Remus? He's really sweet and all that jazz, but since when have I been attracted to guys like him? And as for James…can you actually be serious? I mean, I'm sure he's nice and all, but has he ever been to me? Once upon a time, I could put up with his public humiliation, but after that event in first year, he stepped way out of line, and he's been horrible ever since.'

'I suppose this means we can stop pretending to hate the Marauders?' asked Ella, who, in secret, actually had pretty strong feelings for a certain Marauder, who shall remain nameless at this stage.

The other two were serious again, and Gem prompted Lily, 'but what about now? Could you at least tolerate him for the time being? For our sakes?'

Lily nodded reluctantly and said, 'I guess so. At least now he knows I'm of limits.'

And with that, the bell rang, sending Lily racing for her Ancient Runes classroom, where she had to give Mark his bad news.

**A/N: there, now hopefully at least Grace is happy. If anyone else is, click on that little blue button down there, that's it, the one on the left, and just type me a short review. For all those who already have reviewed, I will eventually get around to reading your stories, just be patient. Oh, and I'm sorry that this was so short, as usual. I do try, but I just end the chapter wherever I feel is the best time. Besides, it looks much longer when I'm typing it then it does actually on the site.**

**Please review**

**Cheers**

**Caitlin**


	7. Stick to the plan

**A/N: I'm so sorry for anyone who was waiting for an update if this fic…it's not my fault… well, it really is, but I promise I'll be good now. I want to thank you all for your reviews, and it is because of you I have not yet given up…so here it is, the next instalment…**

**Guys, I'm so sorry if this is crap, but I had written a really good beginning and then my computer decided to crash, and I lost all of it. Hopefully, this is ok…**

Chapter 7:

As Lily sat in Ancient Runes that afternoon, she had a million things racing around in her head. Firstly, she was feeling pretty mean to do something like this to Mark. After all, he was pretty nice and he liked Lily. Yet she knew he would eventually get over it and no matter how he felt, Lily also had to think about herself, and she knew if she kept pretending she liked Mark that much, she'd go mental and probably end up doing something that would hurt him even more.

Then there were her thoughts on how this would affect her relationship with James and Remus. Would it mean that she would grow to see a good side of James, a side she didn't want to know, lest she actually befriended him? Then she thought of her relationship with Remus. When all this was over, and Mark had gotten over his disappointment and she and Remus "broke up", would they still manage to remain friends, or would they end up developing real feelings for each other that would lead to an ending Lily didn't want?

There were so many negative things Lily could think about, so many in fact, that she was completely off in another world when her professor asked her if she could translate the paragraph on the board, full of words they had learnt that day.

Lily turned that delicate shade of pink she was so prone to turning and stuttered an apology,

'S-sorry professor, I can't tran-translate that sentence, I-I've been off in another world.'

Several of her classmates laughed and the professor said in firm tones,

'So it seems. Well Miss Evans, this is a first. Whatever it is you've been so absorbed in, I suggest you forget about it for the time being and try to concentrate on staying with this world, at least whilst you're in classes.'

'Yes sir,' Lily managed to mumble.

The bell then rang, signalling the end of classes for that day. Lily breathed an enormous sigh of relief, then inhaled sharply, remembering what she had to do. She thought over the plan one last time, convinced herself it was the right thing to do, given the circumstances and walked over to where Mark was packing away his books.

'Listen Mark, there's something I need to talk to you about. It's private, so can you meet me down by the lake in 10 minutes?' she said as casually as possible.

'Yeah, alright, see you soon,' he replied somewhat apprehensively.

Lily turned around and walked towards the door. Mark watched her thick, red hair, that day tied back in a braid, swinging gently as she walked. He pulled his eyes away from it and called out, as she was reaching for the handle,

'Hey Lily,' she stopped and turned to look at him. 'Lily, is there something wrong?' he questioned.

Lily didn't want to answer that question, she really didn't.

'Err, no Mark. There's just something I think I need to tell you.' replied Lily, trying not to betray that, for him, there was something about to go wrong.

As Lily was walking towards the Lake, trying to figure out what she was going to say to Mark when he found her, James, Remus, Sirius and Peter were walking in the exact opposite direction. As Lily turned a corner on the first floor, she walked headlong into the four Marauders. With her head down, she had not seen them, and they had all been so absorbed in talking about the next full moon, that they did not see her either.

There was a loud crash as Lily was sent sprawling against a suit of armour. As she gingerly picked herself up off the floor, Remus held out his hand to help her up. He told the others to go along without him, he'd catch up with them in a minute.

This statement was met with a few noises that made it clear what the Marauders thought they were going to do.

Sirius called out, 'Oi, Moony mate, there's an empty classroom off to your right, make sure you lock the door!'

Remus rolled his eyes as the other three continued onto the Gryffindoor common room.

'Please excuse them, they're not used to behaving like normal human beings,' Remus said apologetically.

'No, it's fine. Oh, and about this whole pretending-to-be-a-couple thing. We need to figure out some serious details. I'm just about to find Mark and break the news to him. He's going to expect to see something realistic. And I'm sure those fine young gentleman who just left are going to expect the same,' said Lily.

Remus nodded and she continued, 'Can you meet me in 15 minutes back here?'

'Yeah, sure, I'll go to the library and the guys will think I've been in that empty classroom over there with you the whole time,' he replied, smiling slightly.

'Ok, be back here in 15 minutes,' said Lily as she hurried out onto the grounds.

She sat down on the edge of the lake and attempted to compose herself. She took a few deep breaths and thought over the best way to do this. Just as she was deciding to take an honest approach (some may call it brutally honest), she looked up to find Mark walking down the sloping lawns to reach her.

She stood up and walked over to meet him. She tried to keep a calm face so as not to alarm him.

'Hi Lily,' he said, trying desperately hard not to look worried.

'Hi Mark. How's your first day back been?' she asked, pretending to sound absolutely as if it was the most interesting thing in the history of the universe.

'Oh, fantastic. It really looks as though we're going to be studying some really interesting things this year, don't you think?'

Lily groaned inwardly, but did not let her annoyance reflect on her face. 'Yeah, it does,' she said serenely, nodding in agreement.

'So what did you want to tell me?' he asked, the feeling of apprehension now lessened by the warm greeting.

'Uhhh, how can I put this? Look Mark, to be honest with you, I didn't spend all holidays reading, and I had a lot of time to think about things. About a lot of things, including you and me being together. At first, after talking to my parents, I convinced myself that it would work out to be a really good idea. But…'

'Oh no, I don't like it when people say that…'said Mark with a groan.

'But,' she continued, 'as I wrote to you, asking you about you're holidays, I realised….well I realised maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Mark, I really do think you're a great person, and I know one day all you're focus on school work will pay off and you'll find a job that pays enormously and I'll be kicking myself for doing this. But right now Mark, I want to enjoy the other things in life, and I don't think that you'd be able to do that with me.'

'Wait,' he said, 'you're doing this because I'm too…too boring?"

Lily nodded and said, 'Not boring exactly, more just the fact you are interested in spending your free time doing completely different things to me.'

'Well, I thought that's what would make us so good together, we have similar interests. If you want, I'll relax more,' he offered, but Lily shook her head.

'That wouldn't be right. I don't want to change who you are, I just don't want to put pressure on myself to be like who you are, just so we can stay together. And, there's something else I need to tell you.'

'_What could be worse,' he thought._

'This morning Mark, Remus found me outside the Portrait Hole, because last night I had stormed out there after yelling at James, because I had gone to the common room because I was feeling so stressed. Mark, the pressure I felt that had been placed upon me by you, by my parents to stay with you and be as good as you and by myself because I wasn't spending enough time with my friends or treating you how I felt I should be, it was all just too much. I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. There was so much going on inside my head that when Remus found me, I told him everything, and he told me a lot of stuff he'd been thinking about.'

'Oh, Lils, I'm really sorry that you felt under so much pressure,' interrupted Mark.

'No, it's not you, it's just me, and the way I am. I blow things way out of proportion sometimes…actually almost all the time. Anyway, there's something else. And please don't hate me, but, when Remus and I were talking this morning, he told me the way he feels about me. He said that he's liked me for a long time, but he has never said anything. Then I realised that the qualities I thought I admired in you, were really the ones I admired in him, and I had never realised. And I know that this is the worst possible, and most ridiculously unoriginal way to…'

'To tell me to leave you alone, right?' Mark asked, not angrily, but more wearily than anything else.

Lily nodded and Mark said, as though trying really hard not to yell at her, 'yeah, I understand now, and it's really o.k. Lily. I mean, I am pretty angry and hurt right now, but I understand that if that's how you want it, then that's you're choice,' he said, not looking down and his feet, but staring her straight in the eye, as if daring her to tell him the whole truth.

She said nothing and he turned and walked away, calling over his shoulder, 'Goodbye Miss Evans, see you later.'

Lily sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Although she could sympathise with how Mark must be feeling right now, she laughed and felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

**O.K, so that's it for this chapter. I was going to keep going, but I thought I should just post now so as not to keep you all waiting. Anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to everyone who is still waiting for me to read one of their stories, I promise, I am slowly getting there, and if I haven't yet reviewed, and you'd like me to, just let me know.**

**Caitlin**


	8. Down to business

**A/N: I know…I know…it's been forever…I don't think it's even worth apologising….but I will anyway. I am so sorry…so so so so sorry. School work has finally ended and I only have one week of year 10 left. I was reading my A/N for chapter six and I was saying how scary it was to be going into year 10. Well, it's almost over now…so expect a few updates over the next 8 weeks or so…holidays…but back to the story…if you can forgive me enough to read it. I've kinda lost where I was going with this…so it may take a while to get back into it…**

**Chapter eight**

Lily headed back inside, feeling guilty because she wasn't feeling guilty and trying to stay calm because she and Remus had some serious planning to do. She reflected on what they were doing. Her and Remus that is. They were going to pretend they were a couple. This was good. She had found a way out of the Mark issue. Very good, Lily was glad over this. They were getting back at James. Also good, right? Lily was unsure. She didn't hate James as much as she used to, that's for sure. But she was very reluctant to form a friendship with him. The incident, in their first year, was like a painful scar, constantly reminding her of why she hated him so much in the first place.

But maybe it was time to let it go. It had been a long time now. She could see he had been feeling vulnerable. He had just admitted he liked her. He was at her mercy. She could see that now, when she was blind to it before. Maybe it was time to move on, stop hating the Marauders. Her friends would certainly be happy, and she realised now how much they meant to her. And she could then actually talk to Sirius and Remus and Peter in public. Yes, not hating James could prove to be very useful…She just hoped that Remus…well, she just hoped.

By this time, she had reached the room where she was to meet Remus. He was already there, waiting for her like he said he would. Always reliable. She entered and sat atop a desk, as he strode across the room from the teacher's desk. She suddenly felt young, like Remus was the one in control. He seemed to have been very focused in thought. He spoke, in a business-like tone,

'Lily, I've thought this all through. We're definitely going to have to make this seem real. People are suspicious creatures and they will suspect us unless we hold this together. Are you willing to put in that much effort?'

'Yeah, I am. I need this to work. It's given me a great way to get rid of Mark, and it's a great way to show James I'm off limits. I just ask one thing. Let's not go into this too full on. Mark's feeling pretty unhappy right now, and I think it's best we just ease into this and build, like we would if this was a real relationship. Is that alright?'

Remus nodded, pleased at Lily's clear thinking, one of the many things he admired her for. That's why he felt so sure this was the right thing to do. She was the perfect person to carry out something like this.

'So, what are some of the basics? What should we start with? How can we make people believe us?' asked Lily.

'Well, spending considerable amounts of time together is obviously necessary. I suggest sitting together in class, in the Common Room, at meals, that sort of thing. Your friends know right? They won't mind missing out on you every now and again?' He asked, as Lily nodded in reply.

'Right, ok. And every now and againI suggest we head off somewhere together, even if we just come here and do homework.. No-one will know.' he continued.

'Sounds great.' agreed Lily. 'There's just one problem. Full moon.'

Remus looked shocked. 'How did you know?' he managed to ask.

'I'm not as stupid as Potter thinks me to be you know.'

'_Of course you're not. There's brains a-plenty under that striking red hair,' thought Remus._

'There have been plenty of clues. But don't worry, I've never said a word to anyone and I don't intent to. And I don't hate you for it, if that's what you're worried about.' she concluded.

'Well, seeing as you know, it takes away a lot of odd questions. I suppose I'll just go of with the boys as usual. It shouldn't be a problem.'

'Well, that's settled then. Shall we go?'

Remus nodded.

'Perhaps I should do this,' said Lily as she messed up her perfect hair. 'And this,' as she slightly smudged her faint shade of lipstick. 'We should make them think we've been doing what they think we've been doing.' she added with a wink as he wrapped his arm about her waist again. He admired her sense of humour as well. He admired a lot of things about her, come to think of it.

James, Sirius and Peter climbed though the Portrait Hole. James was thinking over what he had just seen. Remus…and Lily…together. He knew he should be happy for Remus…and Lily for that matter. They were both happy and Lily was at least now going out with someone decent, better than that irritating Mark. So why were his insides disappearing and re-appearing every few seconds? Why did he feel sick? Why did a look of disgust cross his face every time he imagined them together?

Because he was jealous. Jealous beyond belief. He knew they would return soon, and he knew what they would have been doing. He felt his stomach lurch. He took a few deep breaths. He assessed the situation as he sauntered over to the window, watching the wind blow through the Forbidden Forest. Remus and Lily were a couple…Remus and not James was the one Lily would be inseparable from. Lily was off-limits. He could no longer pester her constantly. He was so unbearably jealous.

At least now he would be spending more time in her presence, and by her consent too. At least that was a bonus. And he had his friends back, and Lily. She may still hate him, but she had good reason to. He still couldn't forgive himself for what had happened that December back in first year. He still couldn't believe how stupid and insensitive he had been.

_The day after Lily's return to Hogwarts, the few remaining students were breakfasting in the Great Hall. Lily was munching on some toast and reading the Daily Prophet when a barn owl landed on the paper in front of her. It seemed that nobody was paying much attention. If one had looked out to the Entrance Hall, where younger versions of the Marauders were peering into the Great Hall nervously, one would have noticed that there were several people paying attention. A lot of attention. Lily read the piece of parchment the owl had brought in. The Marauders watched her face. How would she react to the letter they had sent? She looked nervously around, then glanced to the ceiling. _

_The Marauders exchanged satisfied smirks. So far, so good. Right on cue, ano__ther barn owl swept in and dropped another letter in front of Lily. This time it was a bright red Howler. Lily looked worried. And frightened. It was almost as though she knew what it was going to say._

'_LILY EVANS,_

_HOW DARE YOU LEAVE HOME LIKE THAT. YOU KNEW HOW MUCH WE NEEDED YOU HERE. WE DO NOT WISH FOR YOU TO RETURN HOME AGAIN. EVER. A LIST OF ORPHANAGES FOR YOU TO ATTEND IS COMING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. TAKE YOUR PICK._

_The Howler then burst into flames. People had stopped talking when the Howler had arrived, but resumed it very fast and very loud. A few sniggered, but many felt bad for Lily. They tried to pretend they had not heard. The Marauders, waiting outside, smiled gleefully. Lily Evans had been embarrassed. And was now the one left feeling vulnerable. Exactly what they had intended._

_It was only when Lily had run past them into the nearest girl's bathroom did they feel some pangs of regret. Surely she knew it was not actually her mother. It sounded nothing like her. But they didn't know what had caused her to return to Hogwarts. Nobody did._

It was at this point that James heard Sirius and Peter making noises that surely signalled the arrival of Lily and Remus. James turned reluctantly to face them, and took in Lily's dishevelled appearance. He burned with jealousy, but remembered why she was with Remus and not him. He deserved her hatred. He regretted what he had done to her every day. It was because Remus had cared enough to apologise to Lily and comfort her that she didn't hate him. That he was standing there now, her head resting on his shoulder. It was because Remus understood.

**A/N: well, there you go. Finally. I can't say how sorry I am. But I hope this short chapter satisfied. Another one will be along soon I suspect. I know roughly what's going to happen in the next few chapters so hopefully the next update won't be too far off.**

**Please review**

**Caitlin**


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